Baptism of Fire
by DemonBrightSpirit
Summary: During a routine visit to the Griffon Kingdom Twilight and Luna find themselves in the middle of a sinister coup. Only the two princesses can restore order in the Griffon Kingdom and prevent an all-out war between the griffons and Equestria. Rated M for violence.
1. Prologue: Echoes of the Past

Baptism of Fire

* * *

Prologue  
Echoes of the Past

* * *

It was a pleasantly lazy day in Twilight's library. Outside there was a steady, drizzling rain. Normally the dreary weather would mean quite a bit of stress for Twilight Sparkle. The overly-organized pony would panic as she would scramble to rearrange her schedule, but not today. Today the studious alicorn was more than happy to just sit inside with a hot beverage and a good book.

It was a much-needed break for Equestria's newest princess, and she intended to soak it all in. She had cleared her entire schedule for the day and the book in front of her was a novel, not some scholarly work. With a contented sigh, Twilight turned the page and took a sip from her steamy cup. It really was beautifully lazy. She would have to find time to do this more often.

"Uuugh!" a purposefully annoying groan shattered Twilight's perfect atmosphere.

It was Twilight's number one assistant: Spike. The baby dragon was flat on his back staring blankly at the ceiling. "I'm bored!" he complained as he flailed his arms about to emphasize his words. "Why did Rainbow Dash have to make it rain _all day_?"

"It's not even noon yet," the alicorn chided with a roll of her eyes.

Before Spike could respond, he seemed to get his wish. A loud, frantic pounding at the door announced a visitor and an end to the monotony. "I got it!" the purple dragon eagerly volunteered.

Spike only made it halfway to the door before it burst open to reveal a larger-than-normal guest. Half-lion, half-eagle, the unannounced visitor stepped in and shook the water from her feathers and fur before setting her eyes on Twilight Sparkle.

For the life of her, Twilight still could not tell one griffon from another. "Um, yes?" she tentatively greeted as she got up. "Can I help you miss…?"

"Gilda," she curtly filled in Twilight's unasked question. Slowly kicking out more water from each of her limbs as well as her wings, she finally deemed herself dry enough and began to approach Twilight.

Twilight only vaguely remembered Rainbow Dash's old friend. She had only met the griffon at the party Pinkie Pie threw for her, and the impression she got wasn't a kind one. Could Gilda have come to make amends?

"Are you looking for Rainbow Dash?" Twilight politely asked.

"No," Gilda denied. "I've come for you, _Twilight Sparkle_!" she spat the name as if it burned her tongue.

In a flash, the powerful griffon had tackled the smaller alicorn to the ground. Using her superior girth to keep Twilight pinned on her belly; Gilda wrapped a claw around the pony's neck and squeezed hard enough to plunge her talons into the soft flesh on either side of Twilight's neck.

"Murderer!" Gilda hissed as she dominated Twilight's struggling. "My father is dead because of you!"

Seeing that her squirming wasn't going to get her anywhere against the much stronger griffon, Twilight summoned her magic to throw the angry beast off her. Forcing the nearby air to fill the space between herself in Gilda, she fiercely expanded it. The resulting icy blast of air was powerful enough to knock the grappling duo to opposite ends of the library.

Twilight was thankful Gilda had gripped her neck from behind. The violent separation caused the griffon's talons to slice through her flesh, leaving deep gashes trailing from the sides of her neck all the way to the back of her neck. Had Gilda grabbed her from the front, Twilight would have likely already bled to death as the razor talons would have ripped through essential veins and arteries.

Struggling to her feet and shaking the frost from her hide, Twilight scrambled to get a handle on the situation before Gilda recovered. Her horn and gashes glowed as she focused on stemming the bleeding in her wounds and took in the situation. Her library was in shambles. The burst of wind scattered everything about. Books, papers, even furniture were all tossed about, accumulating at the edges of the room. Her number one assistant was half-buried in books in front of a nearby bookshelf. Gilda was…already back on her feet!

"Please! Stop this!" Twilight begged as she tried to mend her torn flesh.

Gilda responded by grabbing a table that had fallen near her and hurled it at Twilight with an angry roar. The alicorn was able to put a purple bubble of magic around herself just before it impacted. Even though the splintered wood harmlessly bounced off the bubble, Twilight was obviously struggling. She had to let the bubble fade away to focus again on her wounds.

"Tw-Twilight! What's going on!?" Spike urged as he pulled himself from the rubble.

Seeing Gilda turn her attention to the defenseless baby dragon, Twilight quickly decided that he needed to be well clear of the clash. "Go get help!" she ordered as her horn flared brighter. In a flash of purple light, Spike was gone.

Twilight put her full attention on the enraged griffon now that Spike was safely outside of the library. Harming Gilda was at the bottom of the list of options she could pursue. That left incapacitating her or stalling long enough for Spike to return with help. Those options would be plan B. There was still a slim chance that Twilight could reason with Gilda. Twilight desperately hoped that the griffon would listen to reason.

"Please listen to me, Gilda!" Twilight frantically pleaded as Gilda threw a lectern at her. Again, a timely, purple barrier protected Twilight from the assault.

"Why should I listen to a monster like you?" Gilda accused as she charged at Twilight Sparkle.

The purple alicorn struggled to maintain the small shield protecting her as Gilda furiously lashed out at it. "I didn't kill anypony!" she defended herself. "If your father died, then he was a traitor!"

Instant regret.

Twilight had let her emotions get the better of her and for a second she forgot that she was trying to pacify the enraged griffon. She was so busy trying to justify her own regrettable actions that she just enraged Gilda even further.

"_You _show up in _our_ empire and our king_ dies_! MY DADDY DIED!" Gilda raged as her vicious swipes started to destabilize Twilight's protective bubble. "And _you _get hailed as a_ hero_?!"

Finally, the bubble snapped apart and Gilda attempted to grab the smaller alicorn. A column of ice shot between the two as Twilight stumbled away from her assailant. Gilda shattered the thick sheet of ice with a single slash of her talons as she gave chase.

"I _will_ see justice!" Gilda roared as she managed to snag Twilight's rear leg. In an impressive feat of strength and brutality, the griffon reared up onto her hind legs and drew Twilight over her head before slamming the purple pony to the ground with a sickening crash. She then angrily threw the limp Twilight into the middle of the room.

"You. Will. _Suffer_!" Gilda ground out as she slowly marched towards the vulnerable pony.

Twilight writhed in an attempt to get back up as her vision failed her and her thoughts struggled to cohere. Although she succeeded in getting her hooves under herself, she just couldn't muster the strength to get up off of the ground. The sound of Gilda's steps muddled into the surprisingly loud sound of her own heartbeat as she fell back down.

Finally forcing her eyes to work, Twilight watched a crimson bead of liquid fall from the underside of her muzzle and drip into a small, red puddle. Drawing her head up she had to blink as the shapes and brightness shifted faster than she could comprehend. She finally made out the fuzzy blob of a griffon standing triumphantly over her. It was hard to make out with her vision fading in and out, but Twilight was pretty sure Gilda's beak was pursed into a small, satisfied grin.

Twilight tried to speak up to defend herself, but her voice caught in her throat. Instead of a plea, all that escaped her muzzle was glob of blood.

_How did it come to this?_ Twilight briefly wondered as her strength failed her completely. She closed her eyes as her face fell into the growing pool of her own blood. Against her will, Twilight's mind pulled her away from her plight and into the past.

* * *

Author's notes - Eeyup. It's going to be a violent one. I rated it at T. Not sure if the violence exceeds that rating or not. If you the reader have any concerns I can always bump up the rating.

For those whom it may concern: I'm still working on my other stories, but I just couldn't help myself. Must have ADD or something.


	2. Snare

Baptism of Fire

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Chapter 01  
Snare

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Soaring above an empty expanse of land was a sleek, black chariot drawn by four pegasi cloaked in ebony armor. The chariot held not one, but two alicorns. The larger of the two—a dark blue alicorn with a flowing mane—wore a somewhat bored expression.

The smaller, purple alicorn looked absolutely terrified. She readjusted her golden crown for what had to be the hundredth time since they had taken to the air. It was in imitation of the real Element of Magic. Princess Celestia insisted that the real thing stay within Equestria's borders.

"Thou should relax, Twilight Sparkle," the larger unicorn assured.

Twilight fiddled with her electrum shoes a moment before looking back up to the other alicorn. "I can't help it, Luna," she guiltily admitted. "I've never done anything like this before. What if I do something foolish? I might ruin relations between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom!" Her eyes suddenly widened as she adopted a panicked expression. "Oh my gosh! What if I start a war!?"

A small giggle from Luna earned her just a bit of ire from the younger princess. "We are simply reviewing our trading treaties with the Griffon Kingdom. Thou hast been to the castle on several occasions where we hath renewed foreign relations," she attempted to assuage Twilight's fears through what the studious alicorn understood best: logic. "The only difference this time is that we shall be visiting another castle. My dearest sister seems to think this a wondrous opportunity for thou to learn more of being a princess. I wouldst agree."

Twilight looked down again as she felt a bit ashamed. No matter how much Celestia or Luna encouraged her, she just couldn't shake the feeling of dread that came from not knowing what would happen. Sometimes she really resented her own obsessive personality.

This, however, seemed…out of place. Twilight Sparkle did know how these meetings usually went. Not to mention that she had certainly studied the Griffon Kingdom enough to pretty much guess exactly how this would all turn out. So why was she still so worried? She should be confident at this point, but instead it took a fair amount of focus just to keep her knees from knocking together.

"Thou shall shine," Luna encouraged as she draped a wing around the smaller alicorn and pulled her flush against herself. "I hath faith in thy capabilities."

Twilight had been so consumed by her worries that she didn't even notice how chilly the air had become until Luna's warmth cut through her cool fur and feathers. The contact did manage to lessen her anxiety, even if it made the butterflies in her stomach more fervent. It was more than a little embarrassing that she needed to be treated so childishly in order for her to calm down.

"I'll do my best," Twilight promised.

Luna chortled. "I hath never known thee to do anything less," she earnestly praised the younger princess.

The praise only served to deepen Twilight Sparkle's embarrassment. The fire in her cheeks told her that she was blushing now. It triggered even more self-consciousness. The fact that she knew her blush must be visible only made her even more embarrassed, and that made her blush more.

Luna had not intended to tease the smaller princess, but even she had to admit that the little bundle of nerves at her side was quite endearing when she was embarrassed like this. More importantly, Twilight appeared to have forgotten her worries. Luna smiled warmly as she realized she had been successful at easing Twilight's fears. Looking away from the blushing pony under her wing, she saw massive cloud structures in the distance.

"Look, Twilight Sparkle," she urged as she withdrew her wing and pointed.

The sight before Twilight was breathtaking. Towering cloud structures akin to those found in Cloudsdale peppered the sky above a town easily thrice the size of Canterlot. In the center of the griffon city was an enormous, imposing castle. But, much like Canterlot, the security stretched out to the very edges of the city.

Twilight counted twelve guards watching as they crossed into the limits of the city. Each of them were dressed in yellow armor and wielding a spear and shield. Two of them took flight from the clouds and positioned themselves next to the pegasi pulling the chariot. Escorts no doubt. Luna didn't seem to worry, so Twilight let her own concerns ebb away as she took in more of the city.

All of the cloud structures seemed to house soldier griffons. It was as if the wispy structures were dedicated to it. It made Twilight wonder just how they took care of the weather. She certainly didn't read anything about it in the dozens of book she studied in preparation for this trip. Maybe the soldiers were also in charge of the weather?

Below them, there was a massive wall patrolled by even more guards. It stretched out all around the city, marking its border. Outside the gates seemed to be largely untamed wilderness, while the area just inside the protective wall seemed to be dedicated to shacks and small farms. Closer to the castle saw the ramshackle shacks give way to densely cluttered buildings that formed an immense maze of alleyways. The buildings and streets looked run-down even from above.

After the hopelessly cluttered homes came another wall. It wasn't as grandiose as the one wrapping around the city limits, but it was still impressive. The homes and shops protected by this divisive wall were much larger and in much better condition than those outside. This section was much smaller than the sprawling area that constituted the outskirts of the city, but it was still at least the size of Canterlot.

The homes and stores only continued to become more and more extravagant as they neared the castle itself. And what a castle it was. It wasn't nearly as pretty as Celestia's, but it was nearly twice as big. The style was far more…militarily oriented as well. It sported thick, imposing walls that were patrolled by even more guards. Above the castle was a massive cloud structure. Instead of spears, the soldiers occupying the clouds above the castle were mostly armed with bows and arrows. A weapon far more suited to griffons than ponies.

It didn't make Twilight feel safe. The whole city was overtly designed to be an impenetrable fortress. Just who were they trying so desperately to keep out? The Griffon Kingdom hadn't been at war in nearly a century. Or, at least that is what Twilight's books had told her.

The jostling of the chariot landing startled Twilight from her thoughts. She found herself on a mammoth balcony. There were several guards around the perimeter as well as two guarding a heavy door leading into the castle. The two griffons that had guided them there helped to unhitch Luna's guards as the princess of the night elegantly stepped free of the chariot. Twilight tried to follow suit, but tripped over her own hooves and tumbled unceremoniously out.

"I-I'm okay!" Twilight stammered as she got up and offered an embarrassed smile.

The attention was, thankfully, pried away from Twilight Sparkle as the gargantuan doors burst open. An oversized, muscular griffon in gilded armor marched out flanked by even more guards. He stood tall and proud. Although most griffons all looked the same to Twilight, this guy definitely stood out. His eyes were a shade or two darker than the golden yellow most griffons had. His head feathers were short and neatly tamed. As with all griffons, they were white, but Twilight could've sworn that they had a black tint to them near the tips.

As Twilight understood it, the griffon custom would have a chancellor greet them and take them to the royal family, but seeing Luna give him a full bow told her that this griffon was no chancellor. She quickly gave her own bow along with Luna's guards as Luna stood tall again.

Racing back through the volumes of knowledge she had attained prior to this trip told Twilight one thing: the only member of the royal family that could greet them in such a manner had to be the absolute ruler. But that was impossible! The queen was the monarch, not the king. So who was this!?

"Prince Vincent," Luna warily greeted. She had clearly noticed the anomaly as well. "Has something transpired?"

Vincent let a warm smile cross his beak. "Not at all, Princess Luna," he dismissed. He then turned his gaze to Twilight. "And you must be Princess Twilight Sparkle."

_Prince Vincent?_ Twilight wondered. That would make this griffon the Queen's younger brother. Honestly, of the four royal family members, this was the one she knew the least about. She knew all about the King and Queen and quite a bit about their daughter, the Princess. But the Prince? She didn't even remember his name until Luna brought it up.

Twilight tried to give him a genuine smile, but the best she could muster was a lopsided, nervous grimace. There was something about those narrow, piercing eyes that completely unnerved her. "Y-yes," she managed to get out as she gave a shallower bow than before. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The oversized griffon spun around as he headed for the door. "I will see you to the deliberations."

Luna shot Twilight an uneasy glance before trailing after the prince. "Come along, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight's ears folded back as she followed Luna and the griffon prince. Something was wrong, and that look Luna gave her proved it. As she caught up, two of Luna's guards made sure to match pace with Twilight, protecting her on either side.

Entering the castle, Twilight felt even more nervous. The long, extravagant hall was lined with soldiers each only a few paces apart. Even her BBBFF's wedding didn't have _this_ much security. This had to be more than a griffon cultural quirk. This was…wrong.

"How fares thy niece?" Luna carefully asked. "Queen Maria agreed that it wouldst be splendid if Princess Sophia could give Twilight Sparkle a tour. This is her first time visiting the Griffon Kingdom."

"Oh, yes," the prince dismissed without looking back. "The Princess is quite well, but I'm afraid that the tour will have to wait."

Luna frowned as she stopped in her tracks. "I doth believe that our newly coronated princess lacks the experience to take part in the negotiations."

Twilight's jaw dropped at Luna's cutting words. Weren't these negotiations the whole reason she came here with Luna? What the hay was going on!?

Luna gave her guards a stern look, and the two guarding Luna left and joined the two protecting Twilight, surrounding her. "If there is to be no tour, it would be best if Twilight Sparkle returned to Equestria."

Before Twilight could protest, the pegasus guards whirled her around and started marching her back towards the exit. They made it all of two steps before they were halted by a pair of spears blocking their path. All the guards between them and the exit were holding out their spears in the same manner. The message was clear: they weren't free to leave.

Suddenly, Twilight understood exactly what was going on. Luna didn't doubt her abilities nor was she upset with her. She was trying to protect her by getting her to safety. There was something egregiously wrong and, unless Twilight missed her guess, Luna and herself were in no small amount of danger. "Luna, what's going on!?" Twilight pleaded, not bothering to hide the panic in her voice.

"Take them away!" Vincent barked, causing a bevy of guards to grab Twilight and the pegasi protecting her. They immediately began to drag them down an adjacent hallway and away from Luna and Vincent.

Twilight screamed and struggled. Or, at least she thought she did. For some strange reason it was very, very hard to breathe. She tried to raise a hoof to her neck to relieve the discomfort, but it was as if she didn't have any strength left at all.

Her dark, blurry vision revealed a shapeless blob. It took a second or two for Twilight to recognize it as an outstretched arm. The feathers and yellow scales told her that it belonged to a griffon. That would mean that the clawed hand would be…around her throat?

Why was it so hard to think? Her head rolled a bit as the grip on her throat changed and she found her vision centered on a face. _Gilda? _she idly thought as she watched the griffon's beak moving. Gilda was speaking to her. It wasn't that Twilight didn't hear the words. She heard them, she just couldn't comprehend them. It was as if she forgot them as soon as she heard them.

Gilda's face was angry and something else. Disappointed? Suddenly, the griffon spat in her face. The next thing Twilight knew she was crashing to the floor. As she impacted, the present world again faded out of existence.

* * *

Author's Note - I worry that this chapter may have been too descriptive and comes out a bit...boring. The next one will be far more exiting.

At the end of the chapter I tore the events from the past and back into the present where Twilight is at Gilda's mercy (or lack thereof). I'm thinking of ending all the chapters in the same manner, slowly moving the present along as the past events catch up. My main concern is the transition. I wanted it to flow seamlessly from past to present, but I'm concerned that it may be confusing. I'd love some feedback on those issues, or anything else.


	3. Lament

Baptism of Fire

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Chapter 02  
Lament

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In a grandiose room, the prince of the Griffon Kingdom sat across from Equestria's Princess Luna. In-between the two was an exquisite tea set. Luna might have considered it pleasant, if not for the two guards holding their spears dangerously close to her neck. The fact that Twilight and her guards had been dragged away to Celestia-knows-where only furthered to sour her mood.

"Sugar?" Vincent politely asked as he poured tea into Luna's cup.

Luna barely suppressed a growl as she sneered at her "host." "What art thou hoping to accomplish?!" What hast thou done with Twilight Sparkle!?"

"Come now, don't tell me a thousand years of banishment has caused you to forget your manners," he mocked with a neutral tone as he prepared his own cup. Finding nothing but a glare coming from the lunar princess he sighed as he set the cup aside. "No stomach for pleasantries, I see," the griffon prince muttered as his voice took on a serious note. "Twilight Sparkle is perfectly safe in the castle's dungeon."

Vincent's words did little to put Luna at ease. "What is the meaning of this?" she drew out in a slow, threatening tone. "This is nothing short of an act of war!"

The alicorn's words only served to make the griffon grin. "Now, whether or not there is a war…well, that's going to be up to you and your dear sister," he sneered. "After all, my subjects are going to be begging to go to war when they learn that the princesses sent here to review treaties betrayed us and killed our beloved king and queen. Of course, I thwarted your evil plot and, as king, it falls to me to see to it that my subjects get the vengeance they so desperately seek."

Luna snarled in anger. "What hast thou done to them!? Thine own sister and niece!"

"Me? I avenged them…or, at least I brought their killers to justice," he icily replied.

"Thou wouldst betray thine own sister to fulfill thy twisted desires!?"

Vincent chuckled derisively at the incensed princess. "Come, come now, _Nightmare Moon_. As if I would betray my own sister just to satisfy some silly, selfish desire. Who do you think I am? _You?_"

Luna started to lunge after the smug bastard until the spears tore into her flesh, reminding her to stay in her place. She settled on glaring at him as blood trickled down her neck. "Monster!"

"My pursuit is noble," he claimed as he lifted his tea and took a sip. "You saw it yourself. My subjects are suffering. Less than a third of my citizens in our once glorious kingdom are living the happy, carefree lives virtually all of you _ponies_ enjoy." He suddenly slammed the teacup down as his ire grew. "They are starving! They live in squalor! They try their damnedest to carve out a decent life for themselves and it's all for naught!"

He then pointed a claw at Luna. "You, you and your pony ilk are living in a time of unparalleled peace and prosperity while we noble griffons struggle just to survive! Your resources are near limitless while ours dwindle by the hour! Just because you stumbled upon it first you think your inferior species has the right to the land of milk and honey! Not anymore!"

"Celestia shall never surrender Equestria to the likes of thou!" Luna defiantly proclaimed.

Vincent let the comment pass with a derisive snort. "I am no fool. Your kind has nowhere else to go. You will fight to the death for all of Equestria. But my demands are not so…unreasonable. Consider this: you and your pony-kind give your eastern coast and its fertile waters to the Griffon Kingdom and there is no blood shed. You and Twilight Sparkle even get to go home unharmed and there is no bloody war. My subjects get their recompense for the loss of such noble griffons with a new age of prosperity. A pretty fair deal, don't you think?"

"It is not my decision to make," Luna growled. "And Celestia shall never submit to thou!"

"I don't think she would be so…unreasonable," Vincent confidently claimed. "Even if she refuses, a war will tilt the negotiations in my favor. She would grow weary of bloodshed and fearful for her imprisoned princesses. Either way, our mighty kingdom will rise again to its old glory!"

"Thou art mad!" Luna accused.

"Go pump her for information on Equestria's defensive capabilities," Vincent dismissed with a wave of his claw. "If she can't give me what I want, then she's no more useful to me than that other disgusting pony." Two more guards came into the room as the two handling Luna forced her up and started dragging her to the door.

Luna wasn't the only one having a hard time. Deep beneath the castle in a labyrinth of dank, stone tunnels dimly by torches Twilight Sparkle was lying flat on the cold, stone ground in a small cell. Her fur was matted with blood and sweat. She slowly and painfully dragged herself to her hooves. Once she was up off of the ground she was forced to lean against the stone wall just to stay standing. Honestly, it wasn't any better than the floor. One of her eyes had swollen shut and her vision was cloudy as she tried to look at her unnamed assailants.

They were both male griffons. They looked just alike to Twilight, except that one had his head feathers slicked back while the other left them untamed. She had nicknamed them "Slick" and "Ruffles" respectively. Of course, she had given them the nicknames when they were asking her things nicely. When she couldn't tell them what they wanted to hear, they spent the better part of an hour trying to beat information out of her that she simply didn't have.

"Gotta admit, ponies're tougher 'n what I thought," Slick grunted as he struggled to catch his breath. Interrogating the old-fashioned way really wore on a guy after a while.

Twilight hadn't put up much of a fight considering the half-dozen guards outside her cell…not to mention the hundreds between her good old Equestria. Worse still was that she had no idea what had become of Luna or her guards. Twilight was all alone and her instincts told her that her best bet for survival was simply to endure.

Ruffles put a claw on Slick's shoulder to hold him back when he tried to approach Twilight again. "We need to cut this short," he calmly claimed. "She can't tell us anything if she's dead. A night in here might loosen her beak."

"Aww, come on!" Slick complained. "Don't tell me ya ain't curious as to what pony tastes like! I hear it's to die for!" He licked his beak as he contemplated picking at Twilight's corpse.

"You'll be able to eat all the pony you want soon enough," Ruffles dismissed as he dragged Slick out of the cell and sealed Twilight inside.

No longer needing to put on a tough face for her interrogators, Twilight slid down the wall and collapsed in a heap. _How did this happen?_ She wondered as her horn started to glow. She only knew a basic first-aid spell, and she'd never even tried using it. Still, it was better than nothing. Her purple aura appeared in her wounds as it painfully pulled her cuts closed and eased life back into her bruised flesh.

Twilight tried to figure out exactly what had went wrong. Considering most of her interrogators' questions were about Equestria's defensive capabilities, she felt confident that they were at least considering war. What she didn't understand was why. The Griffon Kingdom and Equestria hadn't been at war in centuries. They had been allies for nearly as long! Why would they suddenly be at war?

She couldn't wrap her head around it. Giving up on understanding why she was in this dire situation, Twilight just focused on the healing spell. It was especially effective at stopping bleeding, but it caused an immense amount of pain as it forced the tissues to repair. The more effort she put into the spell the faster it would stitch her wounds, but it would exponentially increase her suffering. Considering how much her bruised, bleeding flesh hurt even without the spell, she would have to settle on a slow, steady healing lest she cause herself so much pain that she would cry out or lose consciousness.

In spite of her efforts, she still must've lost consciousness at some point because the next thing she knew she was awoken by the sound of a tray clattering on the stone floor.

"Dinner time," a griffon guard curtly informed her as he slammed the cell shut and made sure it was locked.

The plate in front of her was anything but appetizing. There was a large bowl of brownish green goop and a single, tiny biscuit. Still, she hadn't eaten since just after Luna lowered the moon. Her stomach demanded nourishment and at this point anything would do.

As she got up she realized that she had either slept for a couple of days, or that she did a better job of patching herself up than she thought. Her muscles were sore from the bruising, but the pain was a fraction of what it had been during her interrogation. The cuts didn't really hurt at all and the scabs securely had her blood in. She could even see out of both eyes again.

Sitting down in front of her bowl of gruel, she contemplated the possibilities. Could it have been poisoned? Did it contain meat? Could it contain pony meat?!

Quelling her worries, she tried to make sense of it rationally. It didn't make sense for it to have been poisoned. Ruffles made it seem like she was still useful to them. Not to mention it would've been simpler had the guard just stabbed her to death in her sleep with that scary spear. So it probably wasn't poisoned. Probably.

Having pony meat in it didn't make sense either. There weren't many ponies in the Griffon Kingdom. Even if they really did eat ponies, why would the meat end up feeding prisoners? Twilight shuddered as she remembered Slick talking about pony meat like it was some sort of delicacy. It was unthinkable that they would put it in this slop. Following that logic, it seemed as though this swill might really be edible. Though, there still could be other critters cooked up in there.

An audible growl from her stomach settled the internal debate. She needed to eat and all that was available was this…gruel. Picking up the biscuit she briefly wondered if it was actually a biscuit and not a rock doing a really good imitation of a biscuit. It was certainly as hard as a rock. Her mouth fell agape as she suddenly realized a solution.

Dropping the biscuit on the plate, she took a couple of steps back as she smiled confidently. Twilight lowered her head, pointing her horn towards the biscuit as it began to glow. Concentrating, she cast the spell. A ray of magic shot out of her horn and enveloped the offending morsel. In an instant there was no longer a stale biscuit, but instead a plump orange. Emboldened by her success, she subtly turned her head to point her magic at the bowl of mush. This time the zap turned the gruel into an overflowing bowl of orange slices.

Twilight briefly wondered if it was healthy to eat nothing but oranges and regretted not learning how to do other fruits and vegetables as she peeled the whole orange with her magic. Tentatively tasting her handiwork she was impressed. While it wasn't quite the same as a natural-grown orange, it was still sweet and juicy. In any case it was infinitely better than what it used to be.

After devouring the oranges, Twilight lied down and turned her attention back to her mending wounds. Focusing her energy on the more uncomfortable bruises in her sides, the familiar pain of the spell erupted, nearly causing her to cry out in agony. Dialing back her efforts, the pain subsided to a more tolerable level. Several excruciatingly seconds later she finally had to stop. It just hurt too much.

To test how well her efforts had served her, she drew in a long, slow breath. As her ribs expanded outside her normal breathing range the pain from her bruises reminded her of her beating. Letting out her breath before she met her lungs' capacity, she had to resign. She was no doctor and her spell had apparently long since passed the point of diminishing returns. The rest of her healing would have to be the old-fashioned way. At least it didn't really anymore if she just lied still. Nothing but a dull ache remained.

What could she do now? Her hunger was sated. Her wounds were tended to. What was left? The only thing Twilight could think of was to escape, but that seemed absolutely impossible. Sure, the bars sealing her in the cell couldn't stop her from teleporting free, but the dozens of guards patrolling the dungeon certainly would. Even if she somehow made it back to the palace there were _hundreds_ of guards there. Then there were two imposing walls and an entire city before she could manage to escape the capital. After that were hundreds of miles of open wilderness, several more griffon settlements, and an ocean between her and Equestria.

She looked longingly to her wings. Maybe she should have tried harder to learn to fly. At least then her escape from this nightmare would only be implausible, not impossible. Not that she would dream of leaving alone. Luna was somewhere in the castle and Twilight wouldn't even entertain the thought of abandoning her.

With a sigh Twilight realized what it was she needed to do. She just didn't know _how_ to do it. To escape she would need to find Luna and surely the more experienced princess would have a concrete solution to this inexplicable plight. Just where would they have taken her? If Twilight couldn't solve that mystery, her hopes were dead in the water.

She was stirred from her thoughts by a sudden ruckus. Twilight gingerly got to her hooves as not to aggravate her injuries. Once she had herself steady, she approached the bars and did her best to investigate. She watched as a pair of guards rounded a corner at the edge of what view her cell offered. Another pair of guards followed and what Twilight saw made her blood run cold.

It was Luna. A guard on either side of her had their claws wrapped around her forelegs and were dragging her along in the procession. Luna wasn't moving. The guards didn't even seem to care as Luna's hind legs and tail dragged across the cold stone behind her. Her head and wings drooped straight down under gravity's omnipresent grip. Luna's once majestic coat was matted with blood and torn in several places, exposing raw flesh. Even her mane no longer flowed with a magical essence. It was just a pale blue mop that hung over her face.

Twilight nearly jumped out of her cell to rush to Luna's aid, but there were at least six guards in the group surrounding her. She couldn't confront that many on her own, and even if she did manage to overpower them Luna was in no condition to implement a daring escape. Twilight couldn't even tell if Luna was still alive.

The purple alicorn was forced to watch in muted horror as the griffon guards unceremoniously dumped Luna into the adjacent cell. As the guards filed out to whence they came, one that trailed close to Twilight Sparkle's cell suddenly slammed his spear against the bars. The sudden movement and deafening clatter caused Twilight to yelp and recoil, tumbling painfully to the unforgiving stone floor. Struggling back to her feet, Twilight saw the griffon guard laughing as he high-fived another guard.

After they disappeared and the sound of their armor clattering faded into nothingness, Twilight approached the bars again. She did her best to look around. Despite having a very limited view, especially of things right next to either side of her cell, she felt confident that there were no guards in the immediate area. Stepping over to the wall that separated her from Luna she focused her magic as her horn sparked to life. In a flash of purple light, her cell was empty.

It took a second for Twilight Sparkle to reorient herself. An unfortunate side-effect of teleporting was a schism in perception. Shaking it off, she found Luna. The bigger alicorn was lying in a heap in the middle of the cell. Twilight walked over and gently nuzzled Luna's face in an effort to stir the injured princess.

Princess Luna's eyes slowly opened to focus on Twilight. Languidly, she rolled over so that she was lying on her belly. "Twilight Sparkle?" she softly asked in a whisper. "They placed us in the same cell?"

"No," Twilight quietly replied, following Luna's lead. After all, she had technically just escaped her cell. There was no need for any nearby ears to know that. "They put you next to me," the studious alicorn explained as she pointed to the wall she had teleported through. "I was worried about you so I teleported over."

Luna observed the bars for a short time to make sure that no griffon guards were watching. "It is no accident that they hath placed us so close together," she whispered as her horn glowed ever-so-faintly. Had they not been in a dark dungeon it probably wouldn't have been noticeable. Suddenly, Luna's most grievous-looking wounds looked markedly better and her mane again flowed magically.

Twilight's jaw dropped as she realized what Luna had done. She had used a disguise spell to make her wounds appear far worse than what they really were in order to fool her interrogators. It was brilliant. Should she survive and it back to Equestria Twilight would have to study up on disguise spells. Disguise spells and how to transmute food into things other than oranges.

Collecting herself, Twilight huddled near Luna. The larger princess responded by draping a wing over her, pulling the smaller pony flush against herself. "Do not speak freely," Luna whispered into Twilight's ear. "They hath placed us in adjacent cells in hopes that we may tell each other what we would not tell the interrogators. They _are_ listening."

A little whimper was all Twilight could think to do to vocalize her understanding. It was terrifying, but at least Luna was here now to protect her. "Um…do you need me to tend to your wounds?" Twilight offered at a carefully low volume.

"Thou knowst such magic?" Luna queried.

"A little. I read about battlefield healing, but I never had to use it before now," Twilight admitted. "It really hurts, but it at least makes the bleeding stop."

_Battlefield healing?_ Luna teased Twilight's words in her mind. Now was not the time or the place for the conversation she needed to have with her ward. But Luna did have a rather…unconventional solution. "My wounds do not require thine attention," she again whispered in Twilight's ear, "but there is another thing you can do for me."

"Anything!" Twilight eagerly volunteered, just a bit too loudly.

The next thing Twilight knew, her head was enveloped in a blue aura as she was overcome with a powerful somnolence. "Sleep," Luna's voice resonated in Twilight's ears as she fell into a deep slumber.

Twilight found herself floating in a shapeless void. Feeling quite uncomfortable floating about with no up or down or anything in-between, she longed for solid ground as she flailed her limbs and uselessly flapped her wings. Seemingly responding to her desires, her hooves found solid ground. Looking around, she saw nothing but wisps of purples and blues. Suddenly, the faint, shapeless colors swirled before her, taking the form of an alicorn.

"Twilight Sparkle!" Luna called out as she fully formed from the nothingness.

"Princess Luna?" Twilight asked with a puzzled expression.

"Thou art dreaming," Luna hurriedly explained. "Thy dream hath yet to fully form. Thou should be cognizant on this plane."

True to Luna's word, Twilight realized she was dreaming. More importantly, she remembered their dire situation. "We-we're still in the dungeon, aren't we?" she asked as she withered.

"Yes," Luna gravely confirmed as she stood next to Twilight and draped a wing over her. "Here we are able to speak freely. They cannot eavesdrop here."

"O-oh," Twilight muttered as she kept her head down. Honestly she just wanted to go home—for the real world left behind her to be some horrible nightmare. The dream responded to Twilight's desires. The hazy colors violently swirled and in a dizzying flurry found themselves imitating the inside of Twilight's library.

"Try to remain focused," Luna chided, not wanting Twilight to become enthralled by the dream world and forget why they were here talking.

Again the dream world shifted as Twilight's thoughts trailed to the desperate situation. Now they were back in the dungeon. "Why is this happening?" Twilight whimpered. "What is going on?"

Luna sighed. "There hath been a coup. Prince Vincent hast overthrown his sister and is planning on blaming her fall upon us. He means to incite a war."

"What!? War!? Why!?" Twilight recoiled as she stepped away so she was face-to-face with her fellow princess.

"He believes—truly believes—that provoking a war shall alleviate the suffering of his subjects," Luna explained. "Because he truly believes that his actions are just and right, he shall not be swayed by words. He shall fight to his last breath."

Twilight stared incredulous at Luna. After a second she slowly shook her head. "This…can't be happening!"

"There is yet hope to prevent war," the bigger alicorn assured. "The usurper cannot be swayed, but the masses shall not follow him if we can reveal to them the truth."

"H-how do we do that?"

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Luna admitted the flaw in her desperate plan. "We must find the ousted; King Cyril, Queen Maria, or Princess Sophia. If they art…gone, then I fear we cannot prevent war. If such is the case, we must escape back to Equestria."

Twilight glanced about as her thoughts raced. "W-well, how do we find them?"

"Griffons' dreams art not my forte, but I shall see if I can find their dreams. Short of that, I do not know," Luna elaborated on her hasty plan. "If we must escape, we shall attempt to flee before dawn."

"But, if we run away…there will be no stopping a war, right?"

Luna hesitated before nodding. "Yes."

"Then we can't do that!"

Luna looked down as she weighed her options. She looked back up as she shook her head. "We are in no position to go seeking out prisoners that may or may not yet live. If I cannot find their dreams, we _must_ leave. It shall not matter if we stay or go if we cannot reveal the truth to the citizens. There shall be war."

Twilight had to sit down. It was just such a horrible proposition. If the royal family was locked away or perished, then there would be no way to prevent war. Unless…

"What if we remove Prince Vincent from power?"

"Without the word of the King, Queen, or Princess to absolve us, all the citizens shall see is two alicorns ousting the last of the royal family. Their cries for war would only grow stronger," Luna denied. "Only the truth can diffuse this situation, and our word is nothing next to _his_."

Twilight whimpered. She was out of ideas and she desperately wanted anything but war. But her hooves were tied. If they could not find any of the royal family…they were doomed to a bloody conflict with these frightening beasts.

The landscape changed from the dank dungeon to an immense field. On one end, the forces of Equestria were shouting as they rushed towards Twilight and Luna. On the other, an armored battalion of griffon warriors were charging.

"Twilight Sparkle, cease this fantasy!" Luna barked, not wanting to see it any more than Twilight.

"How!?" Twilight panicked as the opposing forces closed in.

"Think of happier times! Of anywhere but here!"

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. Just before the two sides crashed into the princesses, the dreamscape shifted and changed. When Twilight opened her eyes again she found herself in her library again. "Thank goodness," she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was…a vivid representation," Luna shared in Twilight's relief. "Hast thou studied the Equestrian-Griffon wars?"

Twilight nodded. "I studied so hard so I would...do well at the negotiations." Her ears folded back as she stared at the floor with a forlorn expression. It was still hard to believe things had gone so wrong so quickly.

Luna sat next to Twilight and draped a wing over her. "Our ordeal is not yet over. Thou shall shine yet."

A small smile touched Twilight's lips at the praise. "I hope we can stop this."

"As do I," Luna earnestly replied.

A comfortable silence set in. As much as Luna longed to relish in the reprieve from the madness, she could not shake the uneasy feeling clawing at the back of her mind. "Twilight Sparkle, earlier thou spoke of a 'battlefield healing' spell," Luna recalled. "How wouldst thou know of such a spell?"

Twilight blushed a bit. "I was a bit surprised that I could remember how to do it properly. I read it in a book I studied for this trip. It was a recommended read from one of the books about the Equestrian-Griffon wars."

Luna took in the sight of the pony next to her as she reluctantly asked, "What was the name of this tome?"

"_Battlefield Sorcery: An Archive of Arcane Arts_," Twilight effortlessly recalled. "It was surprisingly difficult to find."

"Thou should not have been able to acquire that tome!" Luna exclaimed, a bit worried.

Twilight raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Luna sighed. "I am not supposed to tell thou this, but I fear that it no longer matters. There exist many tomes and scrolls that are forbidden to thou. That tome is among them."

"Forbidden?"

Luna nodded as she felt a bit guilty. "My dearest sister hath decreed that thou should not have access to any malevolent magics. Any tome with any such spell is supposed to be impossible for thou to acquire."

Twilight's mouth was agape. Why would Celestia deny her access to magic? Why would she keep it a secret from her? She could scarcely believe it. Only one question existed and it found its way to her lips. "Why?"

"Thou asking such a question is, in essence, the answer," Luna cryptically replied. "Thou only see thyself as a diligent student, a reluctant princess, and lucky to have such wonderful friends. But thou art so much more. Perhaps not now, but in the future."

Twilight looked up to Luna with a small blush. She didn't have her question answered just yet, but she had become enthralled by Luna's words. Her eyes met Luna's and begged her to continue.

"My sister told me of the day she found thou. How she had never in her life seen such potential in a single pony. And that was from just a filly who had yet to attain her cutie mark," Luna explained. "My sister knew when first she found thou that thou hath the potential to reshape Equestria. That if she guided thou, thou wouldst usher in a new age of prosperity and happiness. But…she also held a great trepidation about thou."

"M-me?"

Luna nodded. "When my heart was tainted by resentment, I betrayed my own sister and nearly plunged Equestria into war. For my selfishness I was banished for a thousand years," her voice thick with regret as she spoke. "My sister fears that should thy heart, too, become corrupted that she may not be able to so easily vanquish thou. That it may ultimately lead to an age of suffering and war throughout Equestria."

"I-I would never—!"

Luna interrupted Twilight by drawing out her wings and giving them an angry flap as she let her emotions get the better of her. "I felt the same as thou, once…" she lamented as she turned her back to Twilight Sparkle. "My dearest sister was my only family…my only friend. I loved her with all my heart—I still do. But I grew jealous of her. I knew that no matter what I did or how hard I tried, that she would always outshine me. When I let that bitterness into my heart, the nightmare forces found a home to grow and become powerful. They led me to betray the pony I most admire from that single mote of resentment."

"L-Luna," Twilight empathized as she tried to sit next to the dark blue alicorn, but as she approached Luna flared out her wings to prevent her from getting near.

"My sister never trusted a pony as she had me. And she never will again," Luna bitterly continued. "She fears that should thy heart become tainted, it may plunge Equestria into an age of suffering and war. That it may be nigh on impossible to stop thou should thou become swayed as I was. That is why my sister hath decreed tomes with malevolent magics forbidden to thou."

Twilight sat as close to Luna as the sorrowful princess would allow. "I…understand, I think," she mumbled as she tried to lean as close to Luna as she could.

"Pandora's Box hath been opened," Luna warned as she finally turned back to Twilight, doing well to hide any remnants of tears. "Thou hast already learned spells forbidden to thou."

"I studied them," Twilight admitted as she shrank a bit, "but that doesn't really mean I've learned them. I haven't ever tried to use any of them… Only the healing one a little bit ago."

Luna sighed as she stood and looked down at Twilght. "The forbidden knowledge is now known to thou. That in itself shall not taint thy pristine heart, however…to use that magic—to harm somepony—surely will. I know without doubt that in a normal situation thou wouldst never dream of using such magic. But we are not in a normal situation. Thy life, my life, perhaps even the fate of Equestria may hinge in the balance."

Twilight could see where this was going, but she still didn't know what to do. "What…would you have me do?"

"Had thou not learned those spells, I could simply tell thou to try thy best. Instead, I can only warn thou of the consequences of thine actions," Luna gravely cautioned. "Thy life is more precious than thine innocence. But, if you allow thyself to become tainted with the blood of thy persecutors, then thy heart will be forever tainted."

Twilight knew that Luna was speaking from experience, but she seemed to be exceedingly dire. "F-forever?"

"The Elements of Harmony washed away the nightmare forces and the hatred they hast brought upon me. But my own bitterness, anger, and resentment yet dwell in my heart," Luna confessed. "And new regrets plague me now that I know the suffering I hath caused. They shall never be erased. Just as indelible as thy sins would be should thou be forced to taint thy hooves with blood."

Twilight swallowed hard. Luna's words filled her with both trepidation and empathy. She had no idea how many negative emotions Luna had been grappling with all this time. Her heart really went out to Luna. "I-I'll find a way," she muttered.

"I know thou shall," Luna let a small smile touch her lips.

"Um… Luna?" Twilight spoke softly. "You said that…that you still have resentment in your heart. You don't still…hate Princess Celestia, do you?"

Luna's smile quickly fell into a frown. "No! Banish the thought!" she stamped a hoof.

Twilight withered. Definite miscalculation there. In spite of herself, she could not stop her lips from forming another question, "Then, who…?"

"_Myself_," Luna curtly replied as she turned away from Twilight. Before the younger princess could apologize, Luna changed the subject as she began to depart from Twilight's dreams. "I shall see what I can find in the dreamscape. Regardless of what I find, we shall act just before Celestia raises the sun."

The last few words echoed throughout the dream as Luna left. Twilight proceeded to fall heavily on her rear as she kicked herself. "Idiot!"

"Twilight! Twilight! Can you hear me!?" A familiar voice caused the dream to falter and shatter.

Out of a black fog, a blurry face appeared before her. She couldn't quite make it out, but the splash of purple and green could only be her number one assistant: Spike.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay!?"

Twilight tried to raise her head up and reply, but she couldn't find the strength. Her vision darkened as her consciousness swam. Blinking the world back into existence, she saw Spike's face more clearly. He was obviously worried. No. He was downright panicking.

Suddenly, a bit of motion caused Twilight's eyes to focus on something behind Spike. It was Rarity. She looked angry and seemed to be standing there yelling at a griffon. Gilda?

Her vision darkened again. When she fought back the dizziness and focused she found Rarity's fire to be gone. She looked…afraid. The white unicorn was backing away from a furious Gilda and the griffon was the one yelling. "R-Rare…Rarity," Twilight managed to choke out, eliciting Spike to whip his head around. Just as Gilda swiped at Rarity with her razor-sharp talons, Twilight's vision failed.

Blinking back the darkness, she found Spike with his jaws wrapped around Gilda's tail as she flailed about trying to get him off. Rarity was off at the edge of her vision. Twilight couldn't see her well, and couldn't move her head to get a better look. All she could tell was that Rarity was on the floor and she wasn't moving.

Twilight's attention was snapped back to Gilda as the griffon managed to wrap a claw around Spike. Forcing the tiny dragon from her tail, she violently throttled him a moment before throwing him. Spike quickly seemed to get bigger as he zoomed right at her. Suddenly, the mass of purple and green slammed into her, ushering in the darkness once more.

* * *

Author's Note's - I _loved_ writing this chapter. And not just because of Luna and Twilight's heart-to-heart. It was pretty fun coming up with unconventional uses for everyday spells so that Twilight and Luna could confound their captors.


	4. Innocence Lost

Baptism of Fire

* * *

Chapter 3

Innocence Lost

* * *

Shortly after the sun rose in the once-frozen north, Princess Cadance was still going through her morning routine inside the crystal palace. She sat in front of a vanity as she repeatedly pulled a brush through her mane. It was quite a pain to get in order in the morning, but it gave her a few minutes of quiet reflection before all of her time and effort were relegated to her royal duties. Suddenly, her horn glowed causing her to drop the brush. The magic shot out in front of her face as a scroll materialized.

"Everything okay, Cadance?" Shining Armor asked as he noticed the commotion.

"It's a letter from Princess Celestia," Cadance explained as she set the brush back on the vanity and unfurled the letter.

Shining Armor watched Cadance's reflection in the mirror as she read the letter. Her expression went from curious, to confused, to concerned, and finally to horror. "Cadance? Cadance what's wrong?" Shining asked as he stepped to his wife's side, ready to defend her from whatever unknown threat troubled her. Reflexively, Cadance rolled up the scroll and pulled it away from her husband's prying eyes. "Cadance?"

Cadance relaxed a bit as she set the scroll aside and nuzzled her husband. "It's bad news," she said as reassuringly as she could. "Princess Celestia has tasked me with her responsibilities. She left Equestria first thing this morning."

The unicorn was startled by the news. Celestia _left_ Equestria without any notice? Such a circumstance was unheard-of. And for her to depart while Twilight and Luna were away in the Griffon Kingdom leaving Cadance as the only princess left in all of Equestria… What could possibly be so important?

"What, d-did something happen?" he stammered.

Cadance put a hoof on Shining's cheek as she looked her husband in the eyes. "The letter said there was a dire emergency that required her immediate attention. She even took her captain of the Royal Guard and an elite squad of unicorns with her," she explained as gently as she could before she moved her hoof to the stallion's shoulder. "Shining, the Princess left for the Griffon Kingdom."

Shining Armor's jaw dropped as he realized the implications. "B-but that's where... Is Twily all right!?" he panicked.

"I don't know," Cadance admitted as she wrapped her hooves around her husband in a hug. "I don't know."

Over on the vanity, the scroll's lower half rolled a bit revealing the line right before Celestia's signature.

…_prepare for war._

In the predawn hour in the Griffon Kingdom, two griffon guards took note of the pair of sleeping alicorns in the same cell. They were huddled together with the larger alicorn having a wing draped over the smaller one.

"I thought they were supposed to be in separate cells?" the first one said in little over a whisper.

"They were in separate cells," the second one claimed.

"But... What?"

"They're magic, stupid. The bars ain't what's keeping them in. It's us."

"Y-you're saying they can come through the bars at us!?"

"Yeah, probably. No sense in trying to separate them, either. I'm not gonna get on King Vincent's bad side by messing with them."

"What're we supposed to do?"

"Wrangle them if they decide to leave their cells...well, cell. Anything short of lethal force."

"Mmm, that is good to hear," the larger alicorn cooed as she looked up at the two guards. Both griffons tensed up at Princess Luna stirring. "Art thou ready?" she nuzzled the smaller alicorn.

Twilight nodded as she opened her eyes. "I am."

"H-hey!" the first guard barked. He was trying to sound intimidating, but he come off as more than a little frightened. "Wh-whatever you're planning, you'd do well to just forget it! You hear!?"

"Don't interact with them!" the second guard scolded. He would have continued to scold his partner, but a tugging at his side drew his gaze to the belt on his armor. He looked down just in time to see his keys levitate away from him in a blue aura. His partner's keys were in a purple aura. "S-stop that!" he ordered as he tried in vain to snatch the keys, but all he managed to do was slam into the bars as his talon uselessly groped thin air.

Twilight and Luna confidently stood up and approached the bars, being careful to stay out of reach of the guards. They held the keys in their front hooves.

"S-so what!?" the second guard snapped. "Even if you have the key, we won't let you through!" he threatened as he brandished his spear.

Luna and Twilight looked to each other. "He's got a point," Twilight mused in way too chipper a tone.

"Should we give them back?" Luna asked.

"Well, they aren't going to us any good," Twilight replied.

In a synchronized motion, Twilight and Luna tossed the keys out of the cell. The thin metal skidded across the stone floor coming to a stop when they met the far wall. The guards growled as they spun around and bent over to retrieve their keys. However, a flash of purple light made their keys disappear. Blinking, the two guards looked up to find the bars and the two alicorns behind them. At first they thought that they had gotten turned around, but upon closer inspection the keys they had been reaching for were _behind_ Twilight and Luna. They looked around to discover that they weren't outside the cell looking in; they were inside the cell looking out!

"What sorcery is this!?" the second guard yelled as he gripped the bars in his talons. The two alicorns didn't bother to stick around and cater to the two trapped guards. Luna led Twilight away leaving the two unfortunate guards locked inside the cell.

"King Vincent is gonna kill us," the first guard lamented as he flopped down on his rear in defeat.

The second guard grunted in frustration. Gulping down as much air as his lungs would bear, he screeched out a warning, "Jailbreak! The Equestrian Princesses have escaped!" Little did he know, as his voice resonated down the corridors, it fell into silence as a blue magic field dampened the sound.

As the two alicorns cautiously navigated the labyrinth of cells, Luna did her best to assuage both of their trepidation by going over the plan. "Princess Sophia should be in this general direction," she whispered as she led Twilight. "We are underneath the castle. When we find the Princess thou can use thy teleportation spell to bring us up into the castle."

"Right," Twilight affirmed.

"If we art overwhelmed or if we cannot find her, we must go up to the castle without her," Luna warned. "We shall escape under Celestia's noontime sun, with or without Princess Sophia."

A ruckus caused the two ponies to stop in their tracks. The sounds of metal and shouts echoed down the seemingly endless corridors. "That was fast!" Twilight fretted.

_No...this is not right,_ Luna's mind raced. She was certain they couldn't have amassed a response _that_ quickly. Even if the guards they locked up were heard right away it simply wasn't possible to summon enough guards to make that kind of din in so little time.

"Something is ahoof," Luna whispered. "Be ready. If we art surrounded thou must teleport us to safety."

Instead of leading Twilight away from the cacophony, she headed straight for it. A few dizzying turns later Luna peeked around a corner before quickly withdrawing her head. There were at least twenty guards amassed down that corridor, but they weren't marching. From what Luna could tell from that glance, the guards were clamoring around a dungeon cell. It had to have been a high-value prisoner. With herself and Twilight here, the prisoner almost certainly had to be a member of the royal family.

The jeers quieted down as a shout drowned out the rest. "Sun's up, and so is your time, Princess!"

"It's Princess Sophia!" Twilight hissed. She was tempted to peek around the corner, but Luna held her back with a wing.

"So, what will it be?" the same voice as before taunted. "Will you swear fealty to King Vincent?"

A feminine voice bit back, strong and true, "I would rather die than to abide a traitor!"

"Your funeral, Princess!"

"They're going to kill her!" Twilight panicked.

Luna wasn't about to let it stand either. "She is our last hope of averting war," she stated as her horn began to glow. "We must rescue her! No matter what happens, Twilight Sparkle, thou must get her to safety!"

Twilight nodded in understanding as Luna grew back to the size of Nightmare Moon. As she approached her intimidating size, a black mist began to gather about her. The mist overflowed down the passageway to where the griffon princess was. Prepped for a skirmish, Luna leapt out.

"I shall not let thou harm the princess!" she announced her presence as the mist swept into the group of griffon guards. The soldiers were caught off-guard as the mist reached up, becoming formless maws and claws that dragged them down the passage and away from the cell they had been crowded around. After the initial surprise, the guards began to struggle against the mist and made back some ground towards the cell.

"Hurry, Twilight Sparkle! I cannot keep them at bay for long!" Luna roared as she struggled to keep the guards from getting to the cell.

Twilight rushed past Luna and managed to slip into the open cell. There was not one, but two griffons in the cell. The first was a male griffon dressed in armor more ornate than most. He sported a scar that ran just inside his left eye and was armed with a sword and shield. The other was a clearly female griffon. She was larger than most, though she looked much like Twilight and Luna; bruised, dirty, and weary. It had to have been the princess. She was backed into a corner by the armored griffon. The only thing keeping her from being skewered by the guard were two shadowy maws each holding back one of the soldier's forelegs.

Fiercely struggling against Luna's spell, the commander broke one talon free. Twilight had to come up with an idea. As the other talon came free, he drew his sword up to split the princess's skull. Using her telekinesis, Twilight ripped the shield from his arm and managed to slip it under his sword just in time to spare the princess. The sword crashed into the shield with a resounding "_Clang!_" Startled, the guard turned just in time to get kissed by two back hooves. The buck sent him reeling as he fell away from the princesses.

"Princess Sophia?" Twilight asked as she turned to the oversized griffon.

She nodded, "Yes."

"Come on, we need to get you out of here!" Twilight insisted, but as she turned she found a couple of guards coming into the cell. As the commander began to recover, Twilight found herself backing into the griffon princess. "Luna!"

"Go!" Luna's voice shouted over the din. "Thou must see her to safety! It is the only way to prevent a war!"

"But, what about you!?" Twilight pleaded as she put up a purple barrier around herself and Sophia just in time to keep the guards from reaching them.

"I shall persevere! Go!"

The mighty blows of the griffon guards made short work of Twilight's magic shield. Only once it collapsed did she finally bring herself to leave Luna behind. Encasing herself and Sophia in a bubble of magic, she blindly teleported straight up.

The familiar burst of purple light told Luna that Twilight had made it to safety—probably. Already she had shrunk back down to her normal form as she backed away from the couple of dozen angry guards. A sound from behind her elicited the Lunar Princess to glance back in time to see a half-dozen guards approaching from behind.

"You... How _dare_ you interfere!" the guard that Twilight kicked roared as he stepped out of the cell. "I don't care what King Vincent's orders are. I _will_ have your head!"

"Fools!" Luna retorted as she reared up and her horn glowed. "Do you not realize? Darkness is _my _ element!" Her words ushered in a sweeping gale, extinguishing all the torches in the corridors and plunging the dungeon into inky blackness.

A great din followed as the griffon guards stumbled and struggled in the pitch dark. "Form a shield wall! Do not give her room to pass!" the commander barked. "She has nowhere to go!"

"Light a torch!" another voice shouted.

By the time light again fell through the corridor, Luna was long gone. The soldiers that made up the small group that had flanked her were lying dazed on the floor. "What...hit us?" one of the injured soldiers muttered as she struggled to get up.

"We have to spread out and find her!" another of the injured claimed as he managed to get back on his feet.

"No!" the commander denied. "There is but one exit. We will prevent their escape and head off the princesses. All forces gather at the stairwell! Now!"

Little did they know, Twilight and Sophia were no longer in the dungeon. Instead they appeared to be in a much better lit, more ornate, and larger corridor. They were in the castle itself.

Twilight shook her head to get the dizzying effects of the teleportation to subside. Once she had reoriented herself, Twilight looked at the floor below her hooves. Luna was still down there somewhere, surrounded by fierce guards. She couldn't just abandon Luna, her conscience and loyalty wouldn't have it. Not to mention Luna was the one with the escape plan. Twilight didn't have a clue where to go or what to do.

"You saved me, Princess of Equestria," Sophia thanked Twilight. "I owe you a debt of gratitude."

For the first time, Twilight took measure of the Griffon Princess. She was easily as large as Luna. Her beak was petite and curved slightly to form a menacing point. Unlike most griffons, her eyes were not a golden yellow. Instead, they were a shimmering green. Her headfeathers were longer than most other griffons' as well. They swept back over her head and ended in green-tinted tips.

"Princess, my friend is still down there!" Twilight fretted. "We have to do something!"

"Not so loud!" Sophia hissed as she grabbed Twilight and pulled her near a wall. "The palace is filled with traitors! I don't know what's going on!"

Twilight looked longingly to the floor again. Luna had tasked her with keeping the Princess safe. To teleport back down there would put the Princess in great danger, so that wasn't an option. What was she supposed to do?

"Please, do you know why my guards and uncle have betrayed me?" Sophia pleaded as she tentatively started walking down the hallway.

Twilight hesitantly followed. "I don't know all the details, but I do know that Prince Vincent means to—"

"Do _not_ call him that!" the griffon hissed. "He has betrayed me and my mother! He is a traitor, not a prince!"

Sighing, the purple pony continued. "Vincent means to start a war," she whispered. "He believes that inciting a war with Equestria will somehow benefit the citizens of the Griffon Kingdom. He aims to conquer part of Equestria."

Sophia failed to suppress a growl as the hallway intersected another. The green-eyed griffon peeked around the corners to make sure they were clear before leading Twilight down the passage on the right. "He is a fool," she spat.

Twilight couldn't argue with that statement. "His plans seem to have been...he wanted to blame the royal family's deaths on Princess Luna and myself."

Sophia stopped in her tracks as her beak fell open. "My parents... Do you know their fate?" she asked as she whirled around to look Twilight in the eye.

The studious alicorn hesitated before shaking her head. "I...we knew you were alive and approximately where you were because Luna was able to sense your dreams," Twilight explained. "Luna couldn't find the King or the Queen's dreams. They could've been awake, or-or not dreaming, or..."

"Perished," Sophia muttered with a grimace as she hung her head. "My uncle will not get away with this!" she yelled as she slammed a talon onto the floor.

"Look out!" Twilight warned as she noticed a pair of guards approaching from behind Sophia.

The green-eyed griffon took a glance behind her before taking off. "Come on, this way!" she urged Twilight to follow.

They quickly made their way back to the last intersection. Once there, they were denied going back the way they came by another pair of guards. There were guards ahead of them, too. With only one option, the pair of princesses retreated down the hallway on their right.

"What is your plan!?" Sophia asked as they ran.

"Luna is the one with a plan!" Twilight admitted her ignorance. "All I know is that I have to keep you safe! You're the only one the citizens of the Griffon Kingdom will listen to. Only you can convince them that we didn't have anything to do with this coup!"

A couple of turns later, they were cut off again by another pair of patrolling soldiers. They turned around to find at least four guards not far behind them. They kept up pretty well in that heavy armor. "You can teleport, right?" Sophia asked as the duo shrank away from the approaching danger and into each other.

"To a limited degree, yes," Twilight qualified.

Sophia pointed to a wall. "There!"

Twilight didn't need to be asked twice. Firing up her horn, the duo disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the wall. It appeared to be a relatively small storage room for storing weaponry and armor. Unfortunately, their predicament didn't change much. Nearly as soon as they appeared, they each had a spear tip touching their neck. Two half-dressed guards did not take kindly to being interrupted. A female guard was only sporting body armor while the male only had a helmet.

"It's the Princess!" the one holding a spear to Sophia exclaimed.

"These two are supposed to be in the dungeon," the helmeted one said.

"What do we do? It's...the Princess."

"Release us!" Sophia ordered. "I command you to release us!"

"We just got orders this morning...execute the princess," the one with a spear to Twilight claimed.

The other one hesitated as she shook her head. "I-I can't kill the Princess!"

"Fine, you take this one back to the dungeon," the first guard claimed. "King Vincent will make me a general for this!" he claimed as he set his eyes on Sophia.

In a synchronized motion, the two guards pulled their weapons towards the other princess. Twilight saw her opportunity and seized it. As soon as the spears were no longer pointed at their necks, her horn glowed with a black aura. Bluish-purple spheres appeared on her horn as well as on the guard's spears right at the point where the two shafts crossed. A jet-black crysal formed there, fusing their weapons together and throwing the soldiers off-balance as they pulled against each other.

When the guards fumbled, Sophia grabbed the shaft of the nearest spear as she placed her paws against the wall behind her. Pushing forward, she managed to bowl both of the guards over. The herculean effort successfully knocked the assailants down, but the force shattered the crystal, freeing their weapons.

Sophia quickly scanned the weaponry lying about the small room before finding her weapon of choice. Grabbing a spatha in each claw she turned to find the female guard back on her feet and brandishing her spear. The room being too narrow for a sweeping attack from the spear the guard was forced to thrust at the griffon princess. Sophia dodged the first two strikes, then parried the third by crossing her blades and forcing the razor-sharp tip up and away from her. Continuing to control her opponent's weapon with her swords, she stepped forward so that her opponent was within reach. Only then did she pull the swords away from the spear shaft. The soldier scrambled to draw back her spear, but before she could Sophia ended the duel.

Sophia's straight thrust with both blades impacted the guard's breastplate. Her left sword failed to find a flaw in the solid armor and slid off harmlessly. The stronger strike from her right blade pierced the armor and sank deep into the guard's chest. The guard's eyes were wide open as they lost their focus and blood trickled out of her beak as she let out her final breath. Crimson fluid immediately began to trickle down Sophia's talon as she stood there, stunned.

The sound of the spear clattering to the ground tore Sophia's attention away from her half-buried weapon for but a moment before gravity torqued the sword from her right talon. In none of her sparring matches was she ever trained to remove her weapon from a foe before they collapsed. Sparring never ended in a corpse.

Twilight was busy trying to keep her skin intact. The guard was having a tug-of-war with the alicorn. Her purple aura was trying to pry the spear from his talons, and he was giving it all he had to keep hold of it. But after a few seconds of struggling he gave up. They were in a weapons closet! He didn't need _that_ weapon. The griffon reached above Twilight and pulled a sword from the wall there. Twilight flinched as he drew back, she reflexively put up a wall of magic, but it was too late. She felt a warm, wet sensation across her face.

Peeking an eye open, she found a crimson-coated gleam of steel. Just as quickly, it vanished, leaving behind a gaping wound as the griffon in front of her fell away. There stood Princess Sophia, bloody sword in talon. Looking down, Twilight found the form of the griffon that had just tried to kill her. He was lying in a red pool. Just about the only thing that didn't have blood on it was his pristine blade. In the polished metal, Twilight found her reflection. Red spatter marred her face and hair. She didn't kill this griffon, but she still felt responsible.

She tried to wipe the blood from her face with one of her forelegs, but managed to do little more than to smear it into her fur. As she withdrew her leg, she found blood dripping from the bottom of her hoof. Looking down, she discovered the pool of blood slowly flowing outward from the guard's corpse. Twilight took a couple of steps away as she realized she had been partially standing there in his blood.

Twilight swallowed as she found it harder and harder to breathe. It was all starting to sink in and the horror made her own blood run cold. In desperation, she tried to use the healing spell on the motionless griffon. Even though she put enough effort into it to make her horn glow like a roaring campfire, it didn't have any effect. As she reached her limit, she nearly collapsed. The only thing keeping her on her hooves was the overwhelming desire _not_ to fall down into a puddle of blood.

The sound of metal scraping against metal drew Twilight's attention back to Sophia as she pried her second sword from the corpse of the female soldier. The griffon just stood there on her hind legs, swords held limply in talon, as she gazed at the guard she had slain. "I...killed them," she muttered in disbelief. "My own subjects..."

"They're... Dead," Twilight said in a whisper. She wasn't talking to Sophia. It was simply the acceptance of reality uttered aloud. It was hard to believe. Even if it was to preserve their own lives, two lives had been extinguished, forever. Tears finally spilled from Twilight's eyes as she desperately wished that she could undo what she had done.

Had she lost the innocence Luna spoke of? She didn't use the forbidden magics. She didn't actually kill either of the guards. But it was undeniably her fault. Her magic brought them here. There had to have been something she could have done to prevent this outcome, right? Even if there wasn't...this was wrong. She had taken part in a horrible act that she could never, ever undo.

"Wh-what have we done?" Twilight cried as she struggled to stop her tears and looked to the other princess.

Sophia still stood over the corpse. She didn't seem to regard Twilight as she suddenly spread her wings wide. Ceremoniously, she brought the base of each blade to the apex of her wings and slowly dragged them down. The motions left a streak of blood across the inside of both of her wings. She spun the blades around and repeated the motions on the outside of her wings. Once the blood had been cleaned from the blades, she grabbed two scabbards and donned them so that they made an "X" across her back. She then sheathed the swords as she stood there on her hind legs staring at the corpse.

"My uncle will pay dearly for this," Sophia vowed as her voice cracked.

"Wh-what was that?" Twilight stammered as she started to stem her tears. "With your wings?"

Sophia gave Twilight a long look. Seeing that Twilight really seemed to want to know, Sophia sighed. "It is a griffon custom to paint one's wings with the blood of those whom you have felled in battle. It is...a badge of honor. It also serves to intimidate one's foes." To drive home the point, she flared out her bloodstained wings. It _was_ intimidating—and not just the sudden motion and noise. There was something deeply disturbing about the stains of blood on the griffon's feathers.

"What was the plan, again?" Sophia asked spitefully as she finally got back down on all fours and stepped away from the corpse. "Run away with our tails tucked between our legs?"

"We-we have to get you somewhere where you can reveal the truth to the citizens," Twilight reminded her. "It's the only way to prevent war... To...prevent this."

"No." Sophia denied as she closed her eyes and grimaced as an image of her uncle flashed in her mind. "We stop this madness when my uncle dies."

"Only if _you_ live!" Twilight reasoned. "If you die or get captured, then there is no way we can stop a war. Even if Prince Vincent dies the citizens will think Luna and I are to blame! You are the only one that can vindicate us!"

Sophia audibly growled as she seemed to contemplate Twilight's words. "Fine," she relented. "I clear your name, _then_ we kill him."

"Do you know where we can go without getting caught?" Twilight asked as Sophia started for the door.

"There is a passage that leads to the outer wall. It overlooks the square," Sophia claimed. "From there we should be able to inform my subjects of my uncle's treachery."

"Wait," Twilight halted Sophia as she reached for the door.

Sophia stopped as she turned her green eyes back to the alicorn. "You have a plan?"

Twilight hesitated. She took in the sight of the corpses before setting her mind to it. "I-um...I want you to promise me that...no matter what happens, you will stop this looming war."

Sophia nodded. "You have my word."

"I-I don't want anypony to get hurt," Twilight claimed. "But-but already..." The Equestrian Princess closed her eyes and sighed as she tried to force the disturbing thoughts from her mind. "I don't want to hurt anypony, but if it means protecting you—stopping the events Vincent has set in motion—I know some magic I probably shouldn't. I _definitely_ shouldn't."

Twilight looked up to find Sophia gazing intently at her. "I-it's selfish. Already I-I left it to you to...to..._this!_" she rambled as she pointed a hoof towards the corpses. "I don't want to use that magic. So I'm asking you...begging you to be strong enough that I don't have to."

Sophia closed her eyes before turning back to the door in front of her. After contemplating Twilight's words a few moments, she sighed. "My strength alone isn't what got us this far," she spoke truthfully. "Your magic is the only reason I yet breathe. Cowardice will not prevent war."

Twilight hung her head as she grimaced. Those were not the words she wanted to hear. She promised Luna that she would protect Sophia by whatever means necessary. She _had_ to do whatever she could to prevent a catastrophic war. She just...didn't want to. Not if it meant more death. For a moment, she wished that she and Luna had just fled.

That's when Twilight realized the truth in Sophia's words. If she had run away and hid in her library in Ponyville then thousands would have died in an inevitable conflict. But she wouldn't have been responsible for any of it. It was a sinister plot by a corrupt griffon prince. She was just a pawn. It wouldn't have been her fault at all. Had she done that, she would have never had to experience death firsthand...at the cost of countless lives.

It was selfish, too selfish to bear. Allowing a war and thousands to die because she didn't want to taint her own hooves. No, cowardice would not prevent war. The only option she had was to stand and fight. To cast off her reservations and risk doing the one thing she dreaded most: killing somepony. It was the only way she could hold her head high and say that she did everything she could to prevent the suffering of countless innocents.

"I'll do...whatever I have to," Twilight spoke up after a long silence. "I'll hold back as much as I can, but I won't risk your life or mine."

"Good," Sophia affirmed as she finally opened the door. She peeked out to make sure the coast was clear before leading Twilight back into the castle's corridors.

Meanwhile, Luna was not faring much better in the castle's dungeon. It was easy enough for her to outmaneuver the guards searching for her, but her main goal was to get back to Twilight. She needed to find the exit to the dungeon and she needed to find it before Twilight got into a situation she couldn't get herself out of. It didn't help that the entire dungeon was designed like a labyrinth.

As Luna turned another blind corner she came to a skidding stop. She had run headlong right into a squad of guards! In an instant they they had her subdued as a spike pointed at her face. Looking up, she found the weapon to be a very ornate halberd. The griffon holding the fierce weapon was by far the largest she had seen. She might've even been bigger than Celestia! Unlike most griffons, her eyes were a verdant green.

"Princess Luna!" the enormous griffon barked. "My brother has betrayed me! My husband and daughter are dead! And now I find you in my dungeon!"

"Qu-Queen Maria!" Luna stammered. She would have bowed had she not been already pinned to the ground.

"Answer carefully," Maria warned in a threatening tone. "Why are you here!? What do you have to do with my brother's treachery!?"

Luna paused as she gathered her thoughts. "To thy brother I am a bargaining chip and a scape goat," she honestly informed the Queen. "He means to blame your family's deaths on Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself in order to incite a war."

"He slaughtered my husband and daughter to provoke more bloodshed!?" Maria screeched as she slowly pulled back the halberd.

"I know not the fate of King Cyrus, but thy daughter yet lives!" Luna asserted.

"Let her up!" Maria ordered as she yanked Luna to her hooves. "What do you know about Sophia!?"

Luna looked up to the enormous griffon Queen. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and I managed to get to Princess Sophia before the guards," she explained as she looked warily to the half dozen guards around them. Apparently they remained loyal to their Queen. "I held them back long enough for Twilight Sparkle to teleport Princess Sophia and herself into the castle. I know not where they are, but they are not free from peril."

Maria nodded as she brushed past Luna. "We must make our way back into the castle," she ordered as she led the way. "Princess Luna, should your words ring untrue..."

"I speak the truth!" Luna asserted as she followed. "Twilight Sparkle shall be attempting to get Princess Sophia somewhere that she may reveal the truth to the civilians and prevent war. Alternatively, she may attempt simply to get Princess Sophia out of the castle safely. We must find them!"

"No!" Maria angrily denied. "If Sophia could be anywhere in the castle the fastest way to ensure her safety is to kill Vincent. With him dead none would dare to raise their blade to my daughter. I will save my daughter and avenge my husband with a single blow."

"Thou and thy daughter hast escaped the coup thus far. King Cyrus may yet-"

"My husband is dead," Maria curtly cut Luna off. "I have seen his body with my own eyes."

Luna stumbled a bit at the blunt news. "M-my sincerest condolences, Queen Maria."

"I don't need your sympathy," Maria spat. "Right now I would rather have your righteous fury."

"We should still try to find them," Luna urged. "My sister will arrive at the midday sun to secure our escape. Thou art in hostile territory, Queen Maria! Thou can undo this treachery safely if we can escape the capital."

Maria considered it a moment. "Cowardly pony," she hissed. "If I were to challenge my brother from another city it would prevent a war for you and your precious ponies, but it would doom my Kingdom to a bitter civil war as those loyal to me and those loyal to my traitorous brother begin a conflict. The only way to stop a war is to kill that traitor before he can vindicate himself as a ruler!"

Luna's ears folded back as she considered Maria's words. They were true. Even if Maria stopped a war between the Griffon Kingdom and Equestria, Vincent will still have seized the throne. The only to restore order from outside the capital would be full-blown war. "My apologies, Queen Maria," Luna admitted her fault.

"Princess Luna," Maria gravely spoke as she stopped and turned to the alicorn. "It is my duty as a ruler to do whatever it takes to see to my subjects' best interests, but it is also my duty as a mother to protect my daughter. If at any point I should fall, I want to you to spirit my daughter away from this danger. Take her to Equestria if you must, just...keep her safe."

Luna nodded. "Thou hast my word."

"Do not fail me, Princess of Equestria," Maria spoke as she turned again to lead the group.

As they neared the stairwell that led back to the castle, they came across a patrol of six soldiers at an intersection of corridors. Luckily, the patrol failed to notice them as Luna manipulated the shadows cast by the torches to hide them. Queen Maria silently exchanged her halberd for one of her loyal guard's swords. She then motioned for another guard to follow her while urging the rest of the group to hold back.

She and the guard snuck up behind the patrol each brandishing a sword. As they got close the rear of the patrol, they moved in a synchronized manner. They each jumped the one of the two rear guards, sliding their blades under the breastplate as they grabbed them. The razor-sharp steel pierced into their chest cavities, ripping their pleural cavities open and denying them the ability to cry out as their lungs filled with blood. Maria and her loyal guard carefully removed their swords from their victims before cutting their throats and quietly lowering their corpses to the floor.

As they turned to repeat their actions, one of the patrolling guards just happened to look back. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her fallen comrades and the group of loyalist soldiers. "Ambush!" she shouted as she brandished her spear.

The rest of Maria's guards charged as Luna's horn glowed. Before Maria could skirmish with the four remaining soldiers, a blue aura enveloped them. The aura threw them up into the ceiling before dropping them and letting them fall haphazardly to the floor. Before they could recover and get up, Maria and her guards fell upon them. In an instant the patrol was perished and Maria and the rest of her loyalists didn't bear so much as a scratch.

Luna watched in disgust as the griffons cleaned their blades by sliding them across their wings. "Thou art unhurt?"

"We are well," Maria claimed as she exchanged for her halberd again. "It seems as though your magic will prove an invaluable asset."

"The exit is near, yes?"

"It is," Maria claimed as she looked up and around. "I doubt that we were unheard."

The group quickly stepped over the corpses as they darted down the prison corridors. If they'd been heard, then they would have no choice but to rush whatever forces awaited them at the stairwell. As they rounded the last corner, however, they found themselves as mice caught in a trap. There were no fewer than a dozen guards standing at the ready in front of the stairwell and, by the look of it, a few dozen more troops in the stairwell itself.

At the front of them all was the commander with a scar across his face. He smirked as he sarcastically clapped his talons together. "Congratulations," he mockingly praised. "You made it out of your cells. You must be _so_ proud."

"We art far too outnumbered," Luna whispered a warning to Maria.

Maria snorted derisively. "My own subjects and guards have betrayed me. It is a truly sad day when I can honestly say that the only ones I'm proud of are the ponies that have shown loyalty to our alliance," she admonished. "Vincent has betrayed me, betrayed Equestria, and is guiding you all to destruction! Why do you stand with that traitorous coward!?"

"King Vincent shall guide our weak and sick kingdom back to its former glory! We will shine again as we show our strength and bravery on the battlefield!" the commander fanatically retorted. "We will see a new golden age, and King Vincent will lead us there!"

"Vincent only leads you to destruction! He has no honor! Such a King could never see a golden age!" Maria countered. "He has betrayed his allies, his own kingdom, the crown, his people, and even his own sister and niece! Cyrus was a kind and generous king and Vincent has killed him! How can you possibly swear fealty to such a monster!? It is not too late to atone for your mistakes and follow an honorable path. Stop this madness and help me to reclaim my throne from my traitorous brother!"

"Enough of this nonsense!" The commander barked as the murmurings of discontent echoed through the ranks. "Kill them! All but the alicorn!"

The guards hesitated.

"Stand aside! Let us pass so I may take care of my brother!" Maria ordered.

A few of the soldiers began to step aside. Upon seeing this, the commander drew his sword and split the skull of the nearest griffon. "Do not kowtow to her! She would have us die a slow death in the shadow of Equestria!"

The first drop of blood being spilled compelled action from the rest of the soldiers. They began fighting each other and their captain. Several of them charged towards Maria and the loyalists and clashed blades with them. In an instant, the stairwell roared with the sound of crashing metal as in-fighting consumed the group.

Back up in the castle, Twilight and Sophia were creeping around the elegant corridors. The griffon Princess was trying to outmaneuver patrols and sentries as she led Twilight ever closer to the outer walls where they could get the word out about Vincent's treachery. The problem was that apparently the guards had learned of their presence in the castle and it was now swarming with armed patrols.

"How could so many of them follow Vincent like this?" Twilight whispered as she cast a nervous glance behind her for the hundredth time.

"It is likely that only a few high-ranking guards are aware of my uncle's betrayal," Sophia surmised. "The rest must have been lied to. Were my mother here, they would not dare raise their weapons against us."

"What kind of lie could make them want to kill their own princess?" Twilight wondered.

Sophia growled as she came to a full stop. A heavy wooden door down the hallway opened as several soldiers marched out. She jumped back to Twilight as her horn glowed. In an instant, they were in what appeared to be some sort of meditation room. It might have had some sort of religious significance, but Twilight wasn't about to offend Sophia by asking.

"Did they see us?" Twilight worried as she pressed the side of her head against the door.

"I don't think-"

_WHAM!_

The door burst open, sending Twilight rolling head over hoof away from the door. "There she is! The pony Princess!" the lead guard shouted as he pointed a sword at the dazed Twilight.

"It's Princess Sophia!" another guard announced as he leveled his spear at her.

"Seize them!" the leader barked as a half-dozen guards stormed in, separating Twilight from Sophia.

"I demand you to lower your weapons!" Sophia ordered as she reared up onto her hind legs and reached for the blades on her back. "My uncle has lead you astray! He is a traitor!" Although the guards hesitated, they did not throw down their weapons. They had made up their minds. Regretfully, Sophia drew her swords as she flared out her wings.

The guards actually recoiled a few steps back at the sight of her bloodied wings. "You see!?" the lead guard shouted. "Her wings are proof that she has betrayed our Queen!"

Sophia was prepared to leap at the guards in a suicidal attempt to persevere, but hesitated as she noticed the rug beneath the guards glow a magenta hue. In a comedic yet effective move, Twilight used her magic to pull the carpet out from under the guards. Thrown violently off-balance, they all fell to the ground. Sophia seized her chance. Flapping her wings, she tried to fly over the fallen guards to regroup with Twilight.

She didn't make it far. Halfway through the group a talon reached up and grabbed one of her paws, pulling her down into the fray. A quick reaction is all that prevented a sword from plunging into her torso. She had her sword crossed with the leader's, and her other talon was firmly being held up and away by the feisty lead guard. Normally this sort of stalemate would end with Sophia victorious, but this wasn't a one-on-one fight. The other six guards were getting on their feet and all of them intended to skewer the deadlocked Princess at the first opportunity.

Luckily, the guard leader wasn't the only one with backup. The first guard to get to her feet was met with a ray of purple magic, knocking her off her paws and clear across the room, smashing into the wall. The next two headed straight for Twilight, intent on stopping her magic. They didn't make it too far. The carpet that had tripped them magically wrapped around them. A banner from a wall then wrapped around the carpet, tying a neat little bow around it and the two guards.

With them out of the way, Twilight looked back to the princess to find her locked in combat with a spear-wielding guard. The captain was still on the ground, his head very nearly severed. Behind the Princess was another guard with his spear at the ready. With Sophia in the way, Twilight couldn't hit her with a kinetic blast. Desperate for a way to intervene, she grabbed a spear from the ground in her aura and pointed it towards the guard. In an instant, the threat was neutralized. Just as Sophia plunged her left sword into the gut of the guard in front of her, a spear pierced all the way through the armor of the guard behind her.

A slack-jawed Twilight had to do a double-take. The guard that was about to ambush Sophia was dead on the ground, the spear she was going to use to stop him was still floating there in her aura. Looking back over, she found an empty handed guard staring down at the spear sticking out of his comrade's back. As Sophia turned to him, he held up his talons.

"You surrender?" she dangerously asked.

He nodded emphatically. "I-I have sworn to protect the royal family with my very life," he asserted. "I will not break that vow. I won't abdicate my duty...it doesn't matter if you are a traitor or not. You are my Princess and I have vowed to protect you."

Sophia breathed heavily as she looked to the carnage around her. Finally setting her gaze on the guard with a spear sticking out of his back, she looked back to the last standing guard. "You swear fealty to me?" she asked.

He knelt down. "I hereby swear to serve you, my Princess, to my dying breath," he formally swore.

Had he not just skewered his fellow soldier, she probably wouldn't have trusted him. "If you follow me, that breath may not be long away."

"Such is the burden of my duty," he said as he rose.

"I'm relieved to see my subjects have not all abandoned loyalty for my traitorous uncle's lies," Sophia sighed as she swiped her blades across her wings. Then she sheathed them before turning to find Twilight doting on the guard she had slammed into the wall. "What is your name?"

"Galadhur," he responded as he removed the spear from his fellow soldier. He ceremoniously wiped the spear tip clean using the insides of his wings before discarding it. "With your permission, I would like to use a weapon beyond my rank," he requested as he retrieved the sword and shield from the fallen leader.

Sophia shook her head as she stepped clear of the carnage. "Consider yourself promoted," she announced half-heartedly as she approached Twilight. "How is she?"

"She's still breathing," Twilight announced. "I think she'll make it."

A claw hovered over the hilt of her sword as Sophia contemplated executing her. This guard was a traitor. She had raised her weapon against her own Princess. The punishment for such a crime was crystal clear, but Sophia struggled to find the resolve to carry it out. Executing an unarmed, unconscious girl...Sophia just couldn't do it. She finally tore her talon back down to the ground.

"Time is of the essence," Sophia announced as she turned to find Galadhur familiarizing himself with the sword and shield. She glanced back to Twilight. "It is safe to assume those two won't be able to sound the alarm anytime soon?"

Twilight looked over to the two guards still writhing in the rolled-up carpet. "I-I think so," she muttered, trying her best to ignore the three corpses in the middle of the entryway. More death was far from what she wanted, but at least she and Sophia were unharmed. "Please...l-let's just get out of here."

"Agreed."

The trio quickly stepped over the bodies as they headed back into the hallway. Galadhur spoke up as soon as they were clear of the room, "Princess, if you do not mind my insolence..."

"Out with it," Sophia spat. "This is not the time for formalities."

Galadhur nodded his understanding. "Where are we going? What is our aim?"

"We have to get word to the people of Vincent's coup," Twilight answered him.

"W-wait, you mean to say that Vincent is truly the villain here?!"

"You thought I was the traitor?" Sophia accused as she sent a glare at the guard.

"F-forgive me, Princess," he pleaded as he fell a couple of steps behind. "King Vincent claimed that you tried to usurp your mother's throne with the help of the pony Princesses."

Sophia snarled. "Don't you dare call him that!" she raged as she stopped marching to stare down the guard. "My uncle has betrayed my family! I know not if my parents yet live! That bastard is a traitor, not a king!"

"Vincent captured Luna and I as soon as we arrived," Twilight revealed in an attempt to remove pressure from Galadhur. "I've never even met the King or Queen."

Sophia took a calming breath before leading the way once more. "If not for Princess Twilight I would have perished. I owe her my life," she praised. "In fact, I owe her yet again. I would not have survived that ambush without you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Sophia's praise made Twilight's ears burn. She could even hear her heartbeat in them. Wait... They weren't burning at all. There was just that rushing sound of blood coursing through them. No. There was shouting, too. Out of a blackness, came a few fuzzy shapes.

"Ugh..." she grunted as she struggled just to lift her head. A few blinks revealed Rainbow Dash and Gilda struggling against each other. It looked like Rainbow Dash was losing. The griffon was on top of her and had her talons wrapped violently around her throat. Getting her front hooves under her, Twilight managed to sit up as she took in the situation.

Rarity was off to the side. She was lying on her side and not moving. Fluttershy was standing over her, trying her best to aid the unicorn. Gilda was... Gilda was strangling Rainbow Dash!

Twilight had to stop her. She had to stop Gilda now before she hurt her friends any more. Her horn crackled with energy. Instead of a gentle glow enveloping her horn, magenta electricity arced across her horn. In the span of a couple of seconds the entire room was buzzing with electricity. Lowering her head towards the griffon, Twilight released the energy.

_CRACK!_

A flash of purple blinded the entire room as the deafening sound drowned out all other noise. Once more, the sound of her heart was the only thing in Twilight's world. After several moments, her vision cleared and she again had trouble seeing through the room, but this time her problem wasn't her eyes. Through the haze she saw Rainbow Dash squirming out from underneath an unmoving Gilda. The limp griffon had a smoldering, circular black mark in her side. Further back through the haze it was clear that the entire bookshelf behind Gilda and Rainbow Dash was on fire!

Twilight coughed as she struggled to get up, but in her weakened state it was no use. She collapsed back to the ground as she found it harder and harder to breathe. Maybe it was the smoke, or maybe it was her eyes, but all Twilight knew was that all she could see was black. A few more gasping coughs and her consciousness slipped away again.

* * *

Author's notes - Apologies for the long wait. I've been focusing most of my attention on a different story. This chapter ran a little long, but hopefully it's length helps offset the wait.

I tried using a different technique, so the formatting might be a little different. Hopefully there aren't many errors, either. Let me know if you noticed anything and if you think this is better or worse than the usual.


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